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If you had your life to live over, what would you do differently? If you could go back in time, would you kill Hitler? Life After Life is an inventive novel by Kate Atkinson that explores both questions, and much more. 

When Ursula Todd is born for the first time on a snowy night in 1910, she dies almost immediately. But this isn't the end of her story--far from it, in fact. Every time Ursula dies, she is born again. This isn't reincarnation, strictly speaking. She's born at the same time, to the same parents, into the same life. But it's always just a bit different somehow. She drowns, dies

Reality Boy is a work of fiction that shows the awful truth about Reality TV. But don’t let the word “awful” turn you off. This is an amazingly well written book. The author, A.S. King, does something magical: Just as you begin to lose faith in the human race, she shows us how it's all going to be OK. For Gerald. And for us.

Gerald's a seventeen-year-old who starred on a reality TV show when he was five. I don't know about you, but I get embarrassed when my mom shares goofy pictures of me as a kid on Facebook. Can you imagine what it's like to have your whole life broadcast before the entire

Seen through the lens of an anthropologist, the women who inhabit the Upper East Side of New York City appear to be a strange tribe with outrageous rituals, beliefs, and attitudes.

In this memoir by Wednesday Martin, we watch as she, along with her husband and young child, journey from lower to upper Manhattan – a trip that is negligible geography-wise and enormous socially and culturally.

As she undertakes the highly stressful search for the right apartment and preschool, Martin realizes what a foreign land she has moved to. It is from within this unique and exclusive enclave that Martin,

The Elliott family is not exactly usual. They dwell in an ancient and very much haunted manor perched on the top of a lightning-struck hill. Not only do some of their members predate time, many are undying, undead, or some variation thereof. Their story is told in a series of chapters that read like vignettes of various extraordinary family members. Some of these stories are bitter, some sweet, most are a bit of both.

Cousin Cecy has the unusual ability to inhabit the minds of any living thing, from the smallest blade of grass to a newborn baby across the world. Cousin Angelina Marguerite was

Young Rachelle was trained to protect her people from the dark creatures that surround them, which she has always been determined to do. But she hasn't wanted to simply defend, she wants to boldly attack them. She learned the hard way that, unfortunately, sometimes the only effective way to attack the darkness is to embrace it. Now she clings desperately to her soul as one of those creatures, trying to hold off the darkness within herself while still protecting the people. And her work has moved her from a woodland village to the court of the king.

Hodge has meshed a nice array of elements

The year is 2054 and India has a ratio of 5 boys to 1 girl. Girls have now become valuable assets. To combat the selling of daughters to the highest bidder, a group of women have founded a closed country they named Koyanagar. In Koyanagar, young men are chosen to compete for a chance to marry a girl. It is now Sudasa's turn to witness the testing of five young men and then choose one to become her future husband. Sudasa does not want a husband, she does not want to marry and bear children. She wants the opportunity to decide her own future, but that's not an option for her at this time. 

The Heart Goes Last takes place somewhere in the near future, after a catastrophic economic crash. Most people are unemployed. Many are homeless. Young married couple Stan and Charmaine are reduced to living in their car, barely surviving on the money Charmaine makes at her waitressing job. Things are desperately bleak and seem unlikely to improve at any point in the future, which is why Stan and Charmaine sign up without much hesitation for a new social experiment: The Positron Project offers the guarantee of a job and a place to live; the catch, however, is that all residents must spend

"Once we're born, the only other certainty of life is that one day we and all of our loved ones die." - Beth L. Hewett

I haven't yet needed to write a eulogy, so I can't say what drew me to Hewett's Good Words. Something did, and I was instantly presented with a generous spirit. In The Guide to Using Good Words, Hewett suggests that, if the death of your loved one has been sudden, skip to chapter 3, where you'll find help in drafting a eulogy. She even invites readers to photocopy what they need. In the Introduction, she goes on to explain, "I have come to understand the eulogy's importance

Baltimore Blues is the first in Laura Lippman's series featuring reporter turned private investigator Tess Monaghan. The novel begins with Tess a bit adrift--she has recently become unemployed when the newspaper she worked for went under. To pass the time, she spends her days running, rowing, and doing odd jobs for family members to earn some much-needed cash. Then her rowing buddy, Rock, asks her to do a little discreet spying on his fiancée, Ava, who has just not seemed like herself lately. After Tess witnesses a couple of sketchy meetings between Ava and her boss, the controversial local

I know that the World is a terrible place, filled with wild animals and evil men and wicked women.

So begins Jacob's narration. Like any seventeen-year-old, Jacob trusts what his parents and respected authorities have always taught him about the world and his place in it. Like any seventeen-year-old, he questions what he has always been taught and yearns to discover the world for himself so he can fully take ownership of his identity, to decide for himself who he will be. As is common, religion plays a role in his searching; but it plays an uncommonly large role for Jacob: he lives in a small

Not having seen her childhood friend Clare Cavendish for over 10 years, Nora Shaw is surprised to receive an email invite for Clare's bachelorette party. Nora calls Nina, a mutual college friend, and they reluctantly decide to go to the party together. When they arrive they are shocked to find a modern house, virtually a glass castle in the woods. Nora is disturbed right away by the chilly landscape and isolated location. Clare has not yet arrived, so Nora decides to take a quick run to clear her head, and is surprised to find that dark falls quickly in the woods. On her way back to the house

This is a gritty urban tale but it is also a look at how newspaper reporters go about their business. This is a well-constructed thriller by a former reporter for the Washington Post. When the daughter of a judge is murdered, Sully Carter is assigned the job even though Carter has had problems with the judge in the past.(The judge lied, but Carter couldn't prove it.) Carter finds that things are not what they seem to be! Tucker has left deftly placed clues throughout the novel that point to a great ending.  I admire the craft he used and thoroughly enjoyed the novel!

Full disclosure: I'm a middle-aged, married mom who's a teeny, tiny bit obsessed with teen fiction. Not that I'm a creeper or anything. But my teenage angst phase is more like a personality trait. I relate to people who feel uncomfortable and awkward. People who lack confidence and discipline. People who float through life like they haven't got a clue. More often than not, that's not adults. Something about growing up in our society makes people cocky. It changes people. It makes them think they're some kind of authority figure or expert on life. Not me. That's why I like teen fiction.

 

The

When Will There Be Good News? is the third book in Kate Atkinson's series featuring Jackson Brodie. It was the first one I read, however, and you shouldn't let it stop you if you're thinking about making this the first one you'll read, too. In fact, Jackson Brodie seems more like a peripheral character in this novel, with most of the action being linked together by a sixteen-year-old girl named Reggie Chase. Reggie's mom has recently died, her brother is a small-time criminal, and Reggie is left more or less to fend for herself. To support herself, she works as the nanny for Dr. Joanna Hunter

Night of the Living Deed, is the first in a new cozy mystery series by E. J. Copperman. Alison Kirby wanted a new start. After breaking with her daughter’s father, “…hereafter known as The Swine,” Alison pins all of her hopes (and savings) on renovating an old Victorian beach house on the Jersey Shore. Things are proceeding moderately well but why do unexplainable mishaps always seem to occur just after she leaves a room? When a large tub of joint compound comes down on her head, Alison awakens with the unwanted ability to see ghosts and the knowledge that they won’t leave her alone until

Reading All There Is is like being engulfed in a giant bouquet of love in all its vast intricacies.  While there are plenty of heartwarming, kissy-face snippets in this StoryCorps gem, many stories are edged with bittersweet moments of heartache, regret and loss. 

StoryCorps is “a very simple idea.  You make an appointment to bring in anyone you want to honor by listening.  When you arrive at the booth you’re met by a StoryCorps facilitator who takes you inside and sits you across a small table from, say, your grandmother.  You face one another, a microphone in front of each of you, and for

The science fiction aspect to this book is both obvious and subtle. The major plot point of the book is pure science fiction - parallel universes. The main character, Patricia Cowen, experiences two separate lives, stemming from a decision she makes shortly after college.

Once we reach the divergent paths, the chapters alternate between the two realities. From there, the story is pretty straightforward domestic fiction – the daily trials, tribulations, and joys of the main character.

What I found fascinating was how world events differed between these two lifelines. It makes me wonder about

In 1931, Lily Dane is dragged along to a college football game by her best friend Budgie Byrne, where Lily instantly becomes smitten with Nick Greenwald. Despite the fact that Budgie is generally the popular one, Nick quickly falls for Lily as well. There is one major stumbling block to their happily-ever-after, however--Nick is Jewish, and while Budgie warns Lily that this will be unacceptable to their high society friends and family, Lily refuses to believe it. She concedes that her mother might be a problem, but Lily is convinced that even she can eventually be brought around. It is

This is the memoir of Aaron Hartzler, a writer and actor currently living in Los Angeles. The story covers his growing up years right here in the Kansas City metro.

Aaron was raised in an extremely conservative Christian home as the son of a preacher. As a child, he was thrilled by the idea of the Rapture, a highly anticipated event in which Jesus will return to Earth to gather his believers and take them directly into heaven. Aaron would jump as high as he could into the air while singing, hoping that he could catapult himself directly into heaven. But as he entered his teen years, Aaron

As he does for everyone in the end, Death has come for Granny Weatherwax.  The finest leader the witches never had, indisputably first amongst equals, Granny bequeaths her legacy to young Tiffany Aching.  Tiffany struggles to do the job in front of her when she has to manage her own steading, Granny's steading, train a new apprentice (and never before has a boy wanted to be a witch!), and stop the elven incursion into her world.  Not to mention reining in the Nac Mac Feegle clan.  Crivens!

I gave this four stars for lack of ease for new readers.  Even if you've read all of the Tiffany Aching

Molly Murphy flees 1901's rural Ireland to avoid police scrutiny after she kills a man in self-defense. With all the bad luck the title Murphy's Law implies, she finds herself at the other end of her transatlantic journey in New York suspected of a second man's death. To clear her own name and that of a friend she made on the voyage over, who is another suspect, Molly decides to investigate the murder herself. While the success of her investigation owes more to coincidence and luck than to any keen detective work, the characters and the setting are compelling enough to add interest to a

There are monsters in the desert. They came from the sea and fought with man, but now they wait, picking off their victims one at a time until they see fit to rage against the world of man once more. 

As Lo-Melkhiin rides the storm into Her (there are no names in the book except for Lo-Melkhiin) village, She knows that he is coming to claim a new bride and her beautiful sister will most likely be his pick. Lo-Melkhiin has had three hundred brides already, and each one has met a swift death.

Without a second thought, She makes it so there is no other choice but to pick Her as his bride. She

Set in 1986 in Nicaragua, Night of the Jaguar drops the reader into the turmoil of Nicaragua after the Sandinistas have won and are struggling to govern. Ajax Montoya, a former guerrilla, now a police captain, is literally haunted by the ghosts of his victims. He is assigned a case where a man is murdered in the same way that the Contras kill people. Nicaraguan State Security has also involved itself in the case, as has an American reporter, the American Ambassador, and an American senator. Everybody is watching each other and trust is just a word. It’s complicated. Gannon takes you to a

"The first kill was an accident. Mostly." And so Darryl and Ella-Lou’s quest to reach New York City begins with a string of bodies in their wake. 

Eve Dallas and Roark have just returned from a post-Christmas holiday on their tropical island. The year is 2061 and as soon as they return to NYC, where it's cold and snowy, Eve and her partner, Peabody, are called to a homicide scene. The victim has been horribly tortured before being put out of his misery. Eve almost misses the murderer's signature; a heart carved into the victim with the initials E and D inside. Eve wonders if this is the signature of a serial killer. If so, where are the other victims? As far as she can find there have been no other murders...

Leonora (Nora/Lee/Leo) Shaw's past has come back to visit her. With a mysterious invitation to a hen-do (British bachelorette party) in the English countryside for a friend she hasn't seen or spoken to in years, she is forced to get out of her apartment and shed her closed-off personality for a weekend. She doesn't, however, quite know why she is invited and when she begins to ask around, no one else seems to know why they have been invited either. The hostess, Flo, is crazy about the bride, Clare, and puts all of the guests ill-at-ease. The Glass House where they stay is freaky as well with

What’s going on? Where am I? Who am I? Both the characters in the story and the reader wonder. Sigler has achieved an interesting balance between a thriller-like atmosphere and a slowly unfolding reality.

A group of twelve-year-olds wake up in older bodies, in coffins, with no memory of who they are and how they got there. Thus begins what is slated to be a trilogy.

There’s a somewhat Lord of the Flies flavor to the behavior of these “young adults.” With more questions than answers, and anxiety levels rising, the need for a leader quickly arises. While most of the small group are happy to

Fourteen year old Charlie Simmons is enjoying the summer before starting at a new school in Thunder Point. His very protective mom, Lin Su, is working in Thunder Point as a home nurse for Winnie who has ALS. This is the best job Lin Su has had in a long time and it gives Charlie the opportunity to change schools and get away from the bullies that had been taunting him at his old school. Winnie and Charlie have become good friends as he has been spending a lot of time there over the summer. And now there is new next door neighbor Blake Smiley. Blake is a professional tri-athlete and

Husband and wife co-authors, Clay and Susan Griffith have put a new twist to an old tale in this first book of their Vampire Empire trilogy. 

In 1870, vampire clans rose from underground and the fringes of society to unite and overcome all of North America and Europe, causing the surviving humans to flee south. The Greyfriar begins in the year 2020 when two of the largest human societies are about to be united by marriage, so they can start a war to retake the north. Princess Adele, heir to the Equatorian Empire (think of the old British Colonies), is doing one last diplomatic foray before doing her duty and marrying Senator Clark...

Imagine that food is scarce, money is even scarcer, education is not an option for women and freedom of anything - speech, religion, choice - no longer exists. This is Afghanistan in the 1990s, the world in which Fereiba now lives and she is desperately seeking a way out. She grew up in a better time where she was able to go to school, teach and live a respectable but free life. She recounts her childhood and growing up in a middle-class family while remembering her first love and how heartbroken she was when he married her sister. But now she is married herself to a wonderful man who supports

A friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep.

Welcome to Night Vale.

This book features side characters from the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale. Fans of the show will be delighted with the trademark weirdness of the little town, and overjoyed to see referenced characters as protagonists and the origins of the Man in the Tan Jacket (I don't think a single fan has yet stumbled over the truth). If you've never heard of the show, I suspect you might be a bit lost in the meandering prose and